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OF 

HENRY CLAY. 

BY N. SARGENT, 

(OLIVER OLDSCHOOL.) 




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<( 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



Tbe remark has been made by some writer, and 
it is certainly a very just one, that there is no part 
of history more agreeable in itself, nor more im- 
proving to the mind, than the lives of those who 
have distinguished themselves from the great mass 
of mankind, and attracted public regard. When' 
such a person is presented to our view, when we 
hear his name sounded by every lip, coupled with 
eulogy or anathemas, we feel a strong and laudable 
anxiety to become acquainted with the man : — we 
wish to brijig him down to our fireside, and 
minutely scan his person and character; and, as 
the curious traveller traces the noble and majestic 
stream from its broad expanse to its minutest rill, 
to discover its fountain and source, so do we 
delight to trace such men from their full and 
matured manhood up to their fountain-heads ; and, 
having familiarized ourselves with their early boy- 
hood, with what interest and sympathy do we watch 
their labours and struggles to overcome the obsta- 
cles in their onward course, as, with a noble 
courage and an indomitable energy, they open 
tlieir path to fame and distinction. 

It is given to but few men so to interweave their 
own actions and principles with the transactions 
of their country, to exercise such a controlling 
influence upon public men and public measures, 
as to make their own a part of the history of their 
country. Fortunate, indeed, is the nation, if her 
master spirits are actuated by tliat noble ambition 
which seeks to promote her happiness and pros- 
perity ; which strives to perpetuate freedom and 
the blessings that flow from a government of laws 
administered with wisdom and integrity ; and 
which has its highest reward in the contemplation 
of a people united, prosperous, and contented ; and 
in the verdict of "well done, good and faithful 
servant." 

* Excepting Mr. Adams, who has been longer 
upon the stage of life, no man of the present age 
has taken a more active and prominent part in the 
public affairs of this country, than Hr.xiir Clat. 
For more than thirty years he has stood before the 
nation as an orator, unrivalled ; as a statesman, of 
extraordinary sagacity, forecast, and energy ; as a 
man, of eminent talents, generous, high-souled 
sentiments, the strictest honour and integrity, and 
the chivalrous friend of universal freedom. His 
name has become familiar to the lips of the 
American people "as household words," his policy 
identified with their prosperity, and his fame the 
property of the nation. 

Hanover County, Virginia, has the honour of 
being the place of his nativity, where he was bom 
on the 12th April, 1777. By the death of his 
father, a Baptist clergj-man, in 1781, he was left 
an orphan-boy ; poverty his only inheritance. 
Providence his protector and gnide. He was, 



I however, blessed with a mother who combined a 

i sound understanding to kind and amiable feelings. 

I " I knew her well," said a distincuished gentleman, 

! now in the Senate of the United States; "1 knew 

; her well, when a boy, and used to love to go to her 

house ; she was an excellent woman : so kind, so 

indulgent, and always took such a motherly intc- 

\ rest in the lads of her acquaintance ; nothing she 

J had was too good for us, and there was no stint in 

: her measurement." Much as we admire Henry 

Clay the Orator, Henry Clay the Statesman, 

Henry Clay the distinguished and commanding 

i Speaker of the House of Representatives, Henry 

Clay the Minister Plenipotentiary, Henry Clay 

the Secretary of State, Henry Clay the grave and 

) able Senator, Henry Clay the favourite of the 

(people, yet do we love far more to dwell upon 

" the orphan-boy" following the plough in the 

slashes of Hanover, and occasionally trudging his 

way, with a grist of corn, to a distant mill, to 

provide bread for a widowed mother and younger 

brothers and sisters. 

It is an evidence of the goodness of his heart 
that, in the privacy of the domestic circle, sur- 
'•. rounded by those to whom he can unbosom himself, 
; nothing so delights him as to recur to the scenes, 
'the labours, the incidents, and the, enjoyments of 
\ his boyhood'; anecdotes of which he often relates 
/ with infinite humour and zest. This feeling gushes 
; forth in his speech at Hanover, on the 1 0th of 
j July, IS'IO, which he then visited for the first time 
I after some forty-three years' absence. On that in- 
i teresting occasion, surrounded by nearly the whole 
\ population of the county, who had assembled to 
j welcome one of whom they had heard so much, 
; and was so proud as a native of their own county, 
{ Mr. Clay said : — " I have come here to the county 

> of my nativity, in the spirit of a pilgrim, to meet, 
I periiaps for the last time, the companions and the 
' descendants of the companions of my youth. 

> Wherever we roam, in whatever climate or land 
I we arc cast by the accidents of human life, beyond 
] the mountains or beyond the ocean, in the legisla- 
tive halls of the capitol, or in the retreats and 

< shades of private life, our hearts turn with an irre- 

' sistible instinct to the cherished spot which ushered 

' us into existence. And wc dwell with deli<:htful 

associations on the recollection of the streams in 



> which, during our boyish days, we bathed,* and 

i • Mr. Clay oftrn rclatPs to hik intimate friends the 
' circumstances of his pIonphin)t, wJien a lad, and how, 
; when he untiarnessed the horses at noon to feed them 
j and B'H his dinner, he used, in warm weather, to go to 
( the creek hard by. water the horses, mid while they were 

> feedinff, cool hiinself by bathing. ' I then thought the 
j creek," said he, "a monstrous stream, and indulged not a 
^ little self-complacency that I dared plunge into it, and 
! stem its rapid current. But what was my surprise and 
\ disappointment, when I visited it, to find it nothing more 
] than a small branch : It was one of the largest streams 
i I bad then ever seen." Mr. Clay remembered a hickor? 

b2 



2 



LIFE OF HENRV CLAY. 



the fountains at which we drank , the piney fields, 
the hills and the valleys where we sported, and the 
friends who shared these enjoyments with us. 
Alas ! too many of these friends of mine have 
gone whither we must all shortly go, and the pre- 
sence here of the small remnant left behind attests 



Circumstanced as young Harry was, he had few 
opportunities of improving his mind by means of 
instruction: for him the "schoolmaster" was 
rarely "abroad." L'sually the children of the 
wealthy were instructed by private teachers brought 
into the family ; hence the poor, unable thus to 



both our loss and our early attachment. I would ; acquire an education, were but scantily supplied 
greatly prefer, my friends, to employ the time which i even with the common rudiments of learning, 
this visit afibrdi in friendly and familiar conversa- ' While in the High Court of Chancery he felt the 
tion on the virtues of our departed companions, ; want of that education of which poverty had 
and on the scenes and adventures of our younger ' deprived him, and availed himself of the oppor- 
days ; but the expectation which prevails, and the > tunity to supply, as far as it was in his power to 
state of our beloved countrj', impose on me the > do so, his deficiency. 

obligation of touching on topics less congenial with j But if he owed little to the schoolmaster, he 
the feelings of my heart, but possessing higher i was deeply indebted to a bounteous Providence 
public interest." j for an understanding clear and powerful ; a dispo- 

The farm which had belonged to his father was | sition social, lively, and winning; and a deport- 
small, and its cultivation, which was continued by ! ment easy, manly, and impressive. It might with 
his mother, with young Harr)''s assistance, for seve- i truth be said, 
ral years, afforded the family a scanty subsistence. 
But the labour performed on that piece of land, 
sterile as it was, undoubtedly laid the foundation 
of that strong and vigorous constitution which has 
enabled Mr. Clay to perform such extraordinary 
labour through a long life of professional and public 
service, and to preserve unimpaired his mental and 
physical vigour. It also gave him a knowledge of 
farming operations and a taste for rural occupations, 
which have grown with his growth and strengthened i 
with his years. "There is not," said a gentleman '/ 
to mc, who for many years has been his neighbour i 
and friend, " there is not a better fanner in the | 
western country, than Mr. Clay; and there is no? 
better judge of cattle, horses, and stock generally : i 
nor is there a man in Kentucky who manages his i 
farm to better advantage." \ 

Mr. Clay delights to talk of farming, and of 
stock : often have I heard him, in the midst of a 
political conversation, break off and say, " Well, 
come, let us talk about farming; — what is the pros- 
pect of the crops in your part of the country, 

Mr. 7 have the people in got in the way 

of improving the breed of their cattle yet? I shall 



"The elements 
So tnix'd in liim, that Nature might stand up 
And say to all the world, I'his is a man." 

Obscure, oppressed by poverty, at first unknown, 
with no friend to whom he could look for counsel 
or assistance, there must have been moments when 
the orphan felt all the loneliness of his situation ; 
and, with those inward longings and aspirations 
which a powerful mind could not but have occa- 
sionally prompted, he must have sometimes e^ 
claimed, in bitterness of spirit, 

"Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climb 
The steep where Fame's proud temple shines aftr; 
***** 

Check'd by the scoff of Pride, by Envy's frown. 
And Poverty's unconquerable bar!" 

But poverty in vain opposed to him her " bar." 
In the Chancery office he had occasionally to trans- 
act business with some of the most distinguished 
men then at the Virginia bar, and on her bench. 
Henry Clay was not made to pass through the 
world unnoticed : place him in a crowd of thou- 
sands, and, though entirely unknown, his com- 
i manding manner and marked features would soon 
attract attention and inspire respect. He was no 
more designed by Providence, 

"In life'8 low vales remote to pine alone. 
Then drop into the grave unpilied and unknown," 

than a Ca?sar, a Napoleon, or a Chatham. Such 
master spirits do not sit down and pine, nor give 
way to dcspondenc}'. They are as conscious of a 
power fo rise upon the strength of their own 
powerful wing, and by their own unaided ener 
gies, as the eagle that soars aloft in the blue vault 
of heaven. It was his pood fortune to attract the 
without a guardian, witliout pecuniar}- means of | notice and win the friendship of Chancellor Wythe 
fttipport, to steer his course as he might or could." | and Governor Brooke, by whose persuasion, at the 
The education of the poor has never been attended age of nineteen, he commenced the study of law, 
to in Virginia and other southern slates (nor, and read chiefly in the office of the latter, then 
indeed, in all of the northern) in the manner . 
its import-inre demands ; but in those days there 
were even less facilities of acquiring a common ; 



have to send some of my Durham cows to them 
for that jiurpose:" and then he would go on with 
interesting remarks upon cattle, agriculture, &c. 
and astonish strangers, if any were present, with 
the extent of his knowledge upon subjects about 
which they supposed him entirely ignorant. 

His mother married aijain in 1792, and removed 
with her husband to Kentucky, leaving him, "a 
boy of fifteen years of age, in the office of the 
High Court of Chancery, in the city of Richmond, 
a Kuardian, witliout pecuniar}' 



school education, than exist at the present day. 

tree which Rtond |>y and shaded the iiprini; from wlilrh 
he iiHerl Id drink, niid wnii anxi^iii'i In see lti<> iroe and (jet 
Boine mils onrc more from il, as well n« In drink nenin nl 
the "iprinp, but wan ilisappointed on findinc tlii- Iree had 
decayed, and like many of hit early frlendii and rnmpa- 
nlonx Imd fallen. The fniiniain, however, Still bubbled 
forth its cool and delicious waters. 



Attorney General of the State, and, under the 
auspices of the former, for whom he acted as 
{Private secretary. The friendship of these men of 
eminent worth and abilities, he retained to the 

I latest day of their lives, — no slight evidence that he 
possessed a spirit and principles congenial with 
their own, and that they found in him that which 
great and good men can admire. 

Young Clay, for we must no longer call him 

i"thc orphan-boy," was licensed to practise law 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



the judges of the Court of Appeals, in Virginia, 
in 1797, when lie w.is but twenty years of age. 
He had now to select a place to locate himself: 

"Tlie world was all hefore him, where to choose. 
And Providence his guide." 

His only surviving parent had been five years 
settled near Lexington, Kentucky, and it ia 
probable that filial alVection had no little influence 
in directing his steps to the west. That state was 
then new, and he doubtless saw a field where he 
could put in his plough and sickle, and gather a 
harvest. But if he calculated on finding a bar 
destitute of able lawyers and eloquent advocates, 
he was much deceived; for, new as the country 
was, the bar at Lexington, where he settled, was 
at that time distinguished for the eminent ability 
of its members. His aspirations were at this time, 
however, extremely moderate, for he has himself 
said that he remembered how comfortable he 
thought he should be if he could make £100, 
Virginia money, ($333.00,) a year; and with what 
delight ho received the first fifteen shilling fee ! 

But Mr. Clay had no sooner appeared in one or 
two causci, than business flowed in upon him so 
rapidly, that in less than a year from his entrance 
into the state, he had an extensive and lucrative 
practice. The people of Kentucky, proverbially 
warm-hearted, generous, and susceptible of strong 
emotions, love those who possess the same quali- 
ties. Mr. Clay was a man after their own hearts ; 
and at once they took him to their bosoms, and 
cherished him with as fond a regard and with as 
unalterable an attachment, as if he had been " to 
the manor born," instead of an adopted son. He 
came to the state fatherless, penniless, and with 
the exception of the few he had left behind him, 
friendless. She proved to him a parent, friend, 
and benefactor : has he not repaid her with more 
than filial attachment 1 

His carec-r at the bar was brilliant and successful. 
Possessing an intuitive knowledge of men, and 
master of the human passions ; with a voice, at 
his bidding sweet as the silver-toned lute, or loud 
and powerful as the trumpet-blast, alternately 
indulging in wit, irony, pleasantry, pathos, and 
indignation, — no wonder the heart was in his 
hands a pipe he could sound from the lowest note 
to the top of its compass, and that his influence 
over juries was unprecedented and irresistible. 
But we have little to do with Henry Clay the 
lawyer and the advocate : it is in a higher sphere 
of life we must now view him.* 

f have dwelt thus upon the early part of Mr. 
Clay's life, because, though less brilliant and less 
known than his public career, for one, I feel a 
stronger sympathy and love for " the orphan-boy," 
in the russet garb of poverty, following the plough, 
0( struggling, unaided and alone, at the age of 
fifteen, for a scanty subsistence as an humble clerk, . 

• It i!> JmU Just to Mr. Clay to state that his beine a 
lawyer did not render it necessary, in his opinion, that 
he sh-)iilil advocate, indiscriminately, rieht and wrong. 
8o Tar frnm this, as no ppcuniary temptation or reward 
could induce him to enpaee in an nnjnst cause, so no 
fear o' cSVndlng the affluent and the influential prevented 
hhn (rem advocating the cause of the p"or but injured 
nian. An illustration of thi.s highly honourable trait in 
hi« professional cbar&cter is related in Prentice's life 
•f Mr. Claj 



than I do for the Statesman and Legislator. But 
it is as a public character we are now to view him. 
The youth may be interesting to individuals, but 
the nation is only concerned in the man, his 
capacities, his labours, his principles, and his inflti- 
ence upon public measures. 

As early as 1798 Mr. Clay took an active, and, 
for so young a man, a prominent part in the ques- 
tions which then agitated the people. One of 
these was the propriety of providing, by the Con- 
stitution then about to be formed, for the gradual 
emancipation of the slaves, and the abolition of 
slavery in that state. In this controversy his pen 
and his voice were enlisted in behalf of liberty. 
He looked upon slavery as an evil entailed upon 
the people, of which some measure ought to be 
adopted gradually to relieve the country. This 
advocacy of the emancipation of the blacks by a 
process intended to accomplish it in a manner not 
injurious or unjust to those who held that species 
of property, rendered him for a time unpopular; 
the owners of slaves considering him inimical to 
their interests. Though his exertions in this phi- 
lanthropic cause proved unavailing, yet he has 
ever adhered to the principles he then avowed, 
and endeavoured to carry them out through the 
means of the Colonization Society, of which he 
was one of the principal founders, and has been, 
since the death of the venerable Chief Justice 
MxHSHAtL, President. His desire was, and has 
ever been, to do justice to the blacks, but not 
injustice to the whites. 

The next important question, in the discussion 
of which he bore a prominent part, was one re- 
lating to the politics of the day, and, upon which, he 
ranged himself with the Republican party. He 
took strong and decided ground against the Alien 
and Sedition laws, and in favour of popular rights. 
He considered these laws and other measures of 
the elder Adams's administration as an infringe- 
ment of the liberties of the people and the press, 
and he entered into the opposition to them with 
an energy so indomitable, a zeal so ardent, an 
eloquence so persuasive, and an ability so unlookeJ 
for, that, notwithstanding his youth, being then 
only twenty-one years of acre, he was considered 
the master spirit of the Republican party, and 
brought himself prominently before the people, 
not of his own county only, but of the whole 
state. 

In f803, while absent, Mr. Clay was taken np 
by the citizens of Fayette County, without the 
least intimation of their intention having been 
communicated to him, and elected to the legislature, 
where he at once took rank with the first men in 
the state, not one of whom was his equal in talents, 
energy of character, or power of eloquence. 

In 1806 he was elected to the Senate of the 
United States for the unexpired term, one year, of 
Gen. Adair, who had resigned his seat. Being 
the youngest senator, and a new member, he had, 
of course, little opportunity of distinguishing him- 
self. Nevertheless the people of the District of 
Columbia, and of Alexandria especially, have occsf 
sion to remember him even then, for a very able 
speech he made in favour of the erection of a 
bridge over the Potomac, on the Alexandria road, 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



and carrying the question for the friends of this 
internal improvement. 

Mr. Clay was now again elected to the legisla- 
ture of his own state, and distinguished himself 
by a powerful speech against a resolution which 
had been introduced to prohibit the reading of any 
British decision or elementary work on law in the 
courts of Kentucky. This resolution was the 
offspring of a narrow mind, and appealed to the 
prejudices of the ignorant; against which he had 
to contend. But the subject was worthy of his 
great powers, and called forth from him a mas- 
terly speech. Perhaps none but the bench and 
the bar can truly appreciate the magnitude and 
importance of the question, and the incalculable 
service he rendered the jurisprudence of the state, 
by defeating the resolution. Had he sought popu- 
larity rather than the welfare of the state, he 
would, on this occasion, have thrown himself into 
the current of prejudice which he so successfully 
and nobly resisted, and floated on its fallacious 
surface. But then, as ever after, he stopped not 
to ask what course was popular, but what was 
right. 

In 1809 he was again elected to the Senate 
of the United States for the remainder of Mr. 
Thurston's time, two years. It was then that 
he may properly be said to have commenced his 
brilliant career on that high stage of action upon 
which he so long stood conspicuous before the 
nation, and from which he voluntarily retired on 
the 31st of March last. 

At the time Mr. Clay, for the second time, 
entered the senate of the United States, the two 
political parties which divided the country, the Fe- 
deralists and Republicans, were imbittered against 
each other by eleven years' warfare, and by the 
second defeat of one and triumph of the other. 
Elected by the Republican party, he proved himself 
one of their ablest speakers and tacticians. Mr. 
Jefferson had adopted General Washington's policy, 
of non-interference in the affairs of the European 
powers, who were prosecuting bloody wars against 
each other, and Mr. Madison pursued the same 
wise course. Jealous of the peaceful condition of 
the United States, and her growing prosperity, and 
perhaps piqued that they could not enlist her in 
their quarrels, the bcUiirercnt powers seemed to vie 
with each other wliich should commit the greatest 
depredations upon our commerce, and perpetrate 
the most flagrant violations of our neutral rights. 
Each did this, under pretence that we were aiding 
the other belligerent power by trading with, and 
thus aiding her; but the pretence was as flimsy as 
theirconduct was insolent and unjustifiable. There 
was too much truth, it may be feared, in the remark 
tnat, one cause of the depredations upon our com- 
merce and the condemnation of the ships and car- 
goes of our merchants by their own maritime 
courts, was to hv found in the fact, that, England 
and France Imth wanted money, and must have it. 

But t'nore was a disposition at this time in the 
American Congress, to make preparation to repel 
these aggressions by force, and with this view a 
bill was brought forward appropriating a sum for 
thfi purchase of munitions ol war, including cordage 
«nd soil cloth. To this Mr. Clay moved an 



' amendment requiring the government to give a 
' preference to articles of American growth and 
manufacture ; and on this proposition addressed the 
Senate in favour of encouraging domestic manu- 
factures, then first taking ground in favour, and 
warmly advocating, the great principle of thk 
PROTECTIVE POLICY, to which he has, frum that 
day to the present, firmly and undeviatingly adhered. 
So identified is he with this policy, sometimes 
called "The Americas Ststem," that the paternity 
of it has been accorded to him : certainly he has 
nursed and fostered it with a parent's care and 
more than a parent's devotion. 

Two other important questions came before the 
Senate while Mr. Clay was a member, and in 
which he bore a prominent part; namely, the 
claim of the United States to West Florida as far 
as the Perdido river, which he supported; and the 
recharter of the first Bank of the United Slates, 
which he opposed. 

Upon the close of Mr. Clay's senatorial term, 
he was, in the summer of 1811, elected to the 
House of Representatives of the United States, and 
on the first day of the session, and the first of his 
appearance in that body, was appointed Speaker; 
a circumstance unparalleled in the history of legisla- 
tion.* While he continued to occupy the speaker's 

♦ On the sdbject of Mr. Clay's election as Speaker, 
the following is an extract of a letter from a veteran 
REpuDLicAN, then a distinguished member of Congress, 
from Pennsylvania. 

"Mr. Clay certainly, while in the Senate, sustained 
the hieh expectations that had attached to his character. 
Gen. Variium, at the same time, presided in the House, 
where the gifted and versatile John of Roanoke was 
indulging in all the sallies that a capricious temper might 
dictate. Gen. Varnum, though a good man and g'od 
patriot, was not equal to administer the duties of the 
chair, where there was such a man as Randolph, and 
such an opposition as then e.xisted. That important 
branch of the government was paralyzed for want of a 
suitable presiding otTiccr. The public eye was turned to 
the voung Clay, who had not only made himself known 
and'felt in the Senate, but who iiad, at an earlier time, 
evinced a fine talent for presiding in the popular branch 
of tho legislature of his own Kentucky, lie was elected 
a representative in the twell"lh Congress. The session 
commenced on the first Monday in November, 1811. 
The House was composed of a great proportion of 
ancient men, especially from Pennsylvania. All eyes 
were turned to Mr. Clay to reduce tie chaos to order. 
The venerable John Smilie, I recollect, remarked, he 
looked to him as possessing all the recjuisite dignity, 
talent, and nerve for the mighty task. No caucus was 
needed to reconcile opinions, and to nominate him as a 
candidate. He at once united the vote of the majority. 
He met in action every expectation. 1 say this imt as 
words of course, but e'nipliaticnlly, that in the exercise 
of power, he dealt justly with the minority; and in the 
appointment of commilteos, the most Judicious regard 
was had to local and personal considerations. Ue put 
the strong men in the places where they could display 
their talents and usefulness. There was no trace of any 
purpose to keep hack any man, or obscure his claims to 
distinction. He loved to grapple with the strongest 
minds, on cfjual footing, in committee of the whole. On 
no subsequent occasion have the duties of the chair been 
beset with so great dilTiculty. He soon reduced a body 
to order. In which prevailed the greatest acerbity of 
feeling, satisfying his friends, and preserving the respect 
of his opponents. U was the crisis of dilTuuliy iu the 
foreign relations of the country. The two great helligc- 
rants had persitted In depredations on our conimere and 
neutral rights. Almost all the lesser maritime Euro- 
pean States had been tempted to share in the prey, »• 
subsuquent treaties of indemnily have proved. No man 
took a more prominent and decided altitude for vindicat- 
ing the rights of the nation, than Speaker Clay. Consi- 
der.itiona of high and holy patriotism could only have 
impelled him to this. ,ts his station would have given a 
complete jusilficaiion for a less responsible share in the 
action of the body. On one memorable occasion the 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



chair, which he (hd till ISU, questions of the Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Albert Gullatin, 
highest moment agitated Congress and the nation, ' and Jonathan Russell. They met the British 
and taxed the powers of the leading men of both ] commissioners. Lord Ganibier, Henry Goult)um, 
political parties. land William Adams, at Ghent, where the treaty 

The government had exhausted every means, | which hears that name was concluded. On com- 
short of a resort to arms, to protect the property of ; pleting this important negotiation, and in so happy 
its citizens, and preserve its own rights ; but in vain. '; a manner, he proceeded to London, where, in con- 
The only alternative lel\ was a declaration of war, | junction with two of his colleagues, Messrs. Adams 
or a shameful submission to injuries heaped upon | and Gallatin, he entered on another of great iinporU 
injuries. Mr. Clay's voice was for war. He felt | ance, which resulted in a commercial convention, 
indignant at the insults and injuries we h;ul received ' since made the basis of our commercial arrange- 
from England, and thundered forth his indignation ments with many foreign powers, 
in tones that reverberated along every hill andj ' On his return to the United States, he was 
through every valley in the United States. "It is I 
asked," said he, " what new cause of war we ; 
have 1 In reply, I will ask, what old cause of war \ 
is avenged 1 Has Great Britain abstained from 
impressing our seamen, and depredating upon our \ their adopted son, than they were devotedly attached 



received with distinguished marks of respect 

wherever he went: but in no part of the country 

: with more aflectionate regard than in his own 

Kentucky, whose people were not less proud of 



property t I have in ray hands an account of a 
recent capture of the ship Hannibal, worth, with 
the cargo, $300,000, near our own coast, on a 
voyage to France. I have no doubt that the late 
Indian hostilities on the Wabash were excited by 
the British. Is not this a cause of war T" Such 
appeals, frequently made as they were, roused the 



to him. He was re-elected to the House of Re- 
presentatives, and again, almost unanimously, ap- 
pointed Speaker, continuing to be re-elected and to 
fill the Speaker's chair until March, 1825, when 
he accepted the office of Secretary of State, ten- 
dered him by Mr. Adams. 

During this period of his public scrv'iccs, ques- 



spirit of the nation : the fire of patriotism burned tions of great moment came before Congress, and 
intensely in his bosom, and from its strong heat ? agitated the nation. The war had left the country 
the flame was lighted up throughout the wide | burdened with a heavy debt : the currency was 
extent of the land, but more especially west of the [ deranged, and in a sad condition. The bills of 
AUeghanies, and among our gallant naval tars. \ non specie-paying banks, and the small bills issued 
The declaration of war, which was made on the ( by irresponsible corporations and individuals, con- 
18th June, 1812, found these prepared and burn- 1 stitutcd the whole cin-ulatiiig medium south and 
ing for the contest, in which, ere long, they won \ west of New England. The manufactures which 
imperishable glory, \ had sprung up during the war, were now to be 

The declaration of war had been violently op- ^ protected or suffered to fall under European com- 
posed in Congress, by some of the ablest men in the | petition, capital, and skill. The payment of the 
nation, with whom Mr. Clay triumphantly grap- < public debt was to be pro^^ded for ; tho currency 
pled. The war itself was opposed by a portion of '> restored ; confidence in the national faith re-esta- 
the people, and this opposition greatly embarrassed blished ; and, in short, order was to be brought 
and weakened the government. Owing, perhaps, ; out of chaos, and prosperity out of the utmost 
in some measure to this circumstance, the Ameri- 5 depression. The two great and leading measures 
can armies met with many reverses. But during j fo bring about this were the establishment of a 
the darkest hour of gloom, when the government j National Bank, and the passage of such a Tariff 
was almost without means or credit, and the troops \ bill as should answer the two-fold purpose of 
had been disheartened by privation, suffering, and ; raising revenue and giving protection to our 
defeat, the voice of Mr, Clay reverberated from the , infant, but rapidly growing manufactures. Both 
Capitol, trumpet-tongued, -roused the drooping '> these measures were sustained with all the energy 
Bpirits of the nation, nened the arm of the soldier, and resources of his genius; and both were 
and inspired all with new hope, nnd energy, and accomydished. He had opposed the re-charter of 
patriotic ardour; and he soon had the satisfiiction the United States Bank in ISll; his prejudices 
to see victory, which had long made the decks of '. had been enlisted against it, the party to which he 
our gallant little navy her favourite resting-place, - belonged opposed it as a party measure, and he 
spread her wings over our army, and perch upon ; deemed it unnecessary. But time and experience 
its standard. What .\merican is not familiar had convinced him of the necessity of such an 
with the sound of Tippecanoe, Fort Meigs, Chip- institution, and his magnanimity would not permit 
peway. Lundy's Lane. Fort Ene, Plattsburg, ; him to adhere to an error of judgment merely 
North Point, New Orleans? And what Ameri- ' through pride of opinion or apparent consistency, 
can heart does not glow with pride at the recollec- as if he were not consistent who frankly acknow. 
tion of victories which these names call up, 1 ledges his error, and does all in his power to 

In 1814 Mr, Clay was appointed, by Mr, Madi- ' retrieve it, 
son, one of the commissioners to negotiate a 



treaty with England, His colleagues were John 

House went into committee of the wliole to allow liim 
to sppnk of his country's wrnnes, and to iiree rrsi<tancp. 
He never was more powerfully .Tnd triuinphantiv elo- 
qucnt. than on this occasion : he ch:iin<>i1 his lipart-rs for 
two whole clays. The veter.-jn. Commodore Barnoy, sat 
behind him electrified to tears, such as patriots shed." 



Among tbe most honourable and praiseworthy 
acts of Mr, Clay's life, and which exhibits him in 
the high and enviable character of the friend of 
liberty and the rights of man. is the part he took 
in urging the government of the United States to 
recognise the independence of the Republics of 
South America, which had thrown off the vuke of 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



Spain, and maintained their independence with ) " I frankly own I feel great solicitude for the suc- 
such gallant bravery. His various speeches in j cess of this bill. [The Tarill' bill then under ccnsi- 
behalf of these Republics, and in su[>port of the [deration in committee of llie whole.] THE E.\- 
policy he proposed; were among the most eloquent .TIRE L\DEPENDE.\CE OF .MV COLWTKY 
and spirit-stirring he ever delivered: every sen- ON ALL FOHEKJN t>T.\TES, AS I'i' RE- 
tence was replete with the burning sentimenU of < SPECTS A SUPPLY OF OUR ESSENllAL 
patriotism, and that generous enthusiasm which / WaN'I'S, HAS E\'ER BEEN WITH .ME A 
the struj^gles of an oppressed people, determined to; FAVOURITE OBJECT. The war of our Re- 
shake oir the yoke of tyranny, and resolved to be j volution cU'ected our political emancipation. 'I'lie 
free, cannot fail to inspire every lover of civil '. last war contributed greatly towards acconiplishnig 
liberty. So inspiring was the eloquence of Mr. J our commercial freedom. But our complete inde- 
Clay, in advocating the recognition of South j pendence will only be consummated after the 
American independence, that his speeches were | policy of this bill shall be recognised and adopted." 
translated into Spanish, read at the head of the • The bill passed the House of Representatives, but 
patriot armies, and drew, some years after, a letter ' failed in the Senate. 

from BoUvar, expressing his admiration for his ! The depressed state of the various branches of 
brilliant, talents and ardent love of liberty. " All business, agricultural, commercial, and manuf.ictu- 
America, Colombia, and myself," said Bolivar, | ring, continued unrelieved till 1824, when the 
"owe your excellency our purest gratitude for i TarilT question was again agitated in Congress, 



the incomparable services you have rendered to us, j 
by sustaining our course with a sublime enthu- j 
Eiasm.' 

In 1818 came up the question of internal ira- 1 
provement by national means, which was support- 
ed by Mr. Clay with his accustomed energy and 
ability. To his unwearied efforts and unceasing I 
eloquence, the continuation of the Cumberland, or j 



and a remedy for the evils the country was suffer- 
ing, was sought in the enactment of a new Tariff 
law. The debate upon this measure was conduct- 
ed with extraordinary ability on both sides. The 
friends of the bill, and of the protective system, 
were led by .Mr. Clay, who on this occasion seemed 
to throw his whole energies into the contest, and 
to become more than ever eloquent in favour of his 



national road over the Alleghany mountains, | favourite system of national policy. In rising to 
through Ohio, &c., was mainly owing, and his deliver his masterly speech on this occasion, he 
labours in favour of this valuable improvement are appeared deeply sensible of the immense responsi- 
commcmorated by a stone monument erected on | bility that rested upon him ; and impressed with 
the road, surmounted by the genius of lil)crty, and I this feeling, he solemnly invoked the aid of the 

Most high, and "fervently implored His 
divine assistance; that He would be graciously 
pleased to shower on the country His richest 
blessings; and that He would sustain, on this 
interesting occasion, the individual who stood 
before Him, and lend him the power, mor.il and 
physical, to perform the solemn duties which 
belonged to his public station." 

Mr. Clay's elTorts, and those who acted with 
him were now crowned with success, and prospe- 
rity soon began to shed her invigorating beams 
upon the land, and to warm the industry of ihe 
country once more into life and activity. From 
the passage of this bill to the removal of the de}H>- 
sites, in 1833, no country ever witnessed more 
palmy days, in all that concerned business and 
advancement in wealth. 

It was at this period that Greece, having thrown 
ofT the shackles of Turkish slavery, was main- 
taining a noble, but apparently a hopeless, struggle 



inscribed with the name of "HENRY CLAY 
He was in favour of a general system of internal 
improvements by means of roads and canals ; but 
the south arrayed itself against the principle, and 
the states having undertaken these works, each 
within its own limits, it was finally abandoned, 
or at least not pressed. 

During the winter of 1818-19, was agitated in 
Congress the celebrated Missouri question, and 
was, for many weeks, debated with great heat and 
acrimony of feeling on both sides : at one time it 
seemed to threaten the most disastrous conse- 
quences. On this occasion Mr. Clay stepped in, 
when all hope of compromise seemed to be gone, 
and, by his judicious mediation, inducing the two 
parties to adopt a middle course, averted the terrible 
catastrophe which all had reason to fear would 
follow, and brought the matter to a peaceful ter- 
mination. It was on this occasion that he won 
the proud title of "the great pacificator." 



The country suffered very greatly by a stagna- ! for freedom and independence. No one llun old 
tion in all the various departments of business ; enough to take an interest in the afTairs of the 
during several years about this period. The Tariff world, can forget with what warm-hearted sympa- 
of 181C not giving adequate protection to our ' thy the .\mericans viewed this contest, nor what 
infant manufactures to enable them to maintain ardent jirayers went up to the God of battles tc 
themselves against the competition of Europe, a nerve the arm of the Christian against the Moslem 
new Tarilf bill w;ls brought forward in the House ; host, and to crown the cfl'orts of Greece, ancient, 
in 1819-20, which was supported by all the j classic. Christian Greece, with victory. No one 
strength of Mr. Clay's great powers, and upon can forget with what generous zeal even our fiiir 
which he delivered a speech replete with principles counlrv-women undertook the benevolent-and phi 
of the soundest political philosophy, and sentiments lanlhropic labour of collecting food and clothinn 
of the most ardent patriotism. .\ single sentence for the starving and naked Greeks, driven froLi 
in this speech embodied the great maxim of his j their smouldering homes by their ruthless enemies, 
whole j)ul)lic course in reference to this great and and coni))elle<l to flee to the mountains and live in 
vastly important subject. "Mr. Chairman." said he, caves, and upon roots and berries. The tale of 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY 



the barbarities committed upon the women and 
children harrowed every bosom, and drew tears 
from every eye ; while the heroic deeds of a Marco 
Bozzaris, and his companions in arms, fired the 
American soul witli unbounded admiration. 

It was during the session of 1823-4, tliat Mr. 
Webster brought fonvard a proposition to maive 
provision to defray the expense of deputing a 
commissioner or agent to Gree^, whenever tiie 
President should deem it proper. In support of 
his [)roposition Mr. Webster delivered a masterly 
speech ; but the proposition was opposed by those 
who thought such an act on our part might be 
construed by the Grand Sultan as evincing an un- 
friendly feeling towards the Sublime Porte, and 
involve us in trouble. Some were understood to 
oppose the resolution on account of the source 
whence it originated, Mr. Webster having been a 
federalist. .Mr. Clay, ever above any such un- 
generous feeling and unworthy motive, rebuked 
them in a dignified and eloquent manner. " I have 
long had the pleasure," he said, " of knowing the 
honourable gentleman from Massachusetts, and 
sometimes that of acting with him ; and I have 
much satisfaction in expressing my high admiration 
of his great talent?. But I would appeal to my 
republican friends, those faithful sentinels of civil 
liberty with whom I have ever acted, shall we re- 
ject a proposition, consonant to our principles, 
favouring the good and great cause, on account of 
the pohtical character of its mover] Shall we not 
rather look to the intrinsic merits of the measure, 
and seek every fit occasion to strengthen and per- 
petuate liberal principles and noble sentiments 1 
If it were possible fur republicans to cease to be 
the champions of human freedom, and if federal- 
ists became its only supporters, I would cease 

TO BE A HEPCBLICAX; I WOCLTI BECOME A 

PEii ERA LIST. The preservation of the public con- 
fidence can only be secured, or merited, by a faithful 
adherence to the principles by which it has been 
acquired." At the close of his speech, the expec- 
tation of which had filled the galleries to overflow- 
ing, especially with ladies, he broke forth into the 
following burst of generous feeling and manly 
eloquence : — 

" But, sir, it is not for Greece alone that I desire 
to see this measure adopted. It will give her but 
little support, and that purely of a moral kind. 
It is principally for America, for the credit and 
character of our common country, for our own 
unsullied name, that I hope to see this pass. 
What appearance, Mr. Chairman, on the page of 
history would a record like this exhibit? 'In the 
month of January, in the year of our Lord and 
Saviour lS2t, while all European Christendom 
beheld, with cold and unfeeling indifference, the 
unexampled wrongs and inexpressible misery of 
Christian Greece, a proposition was made in the 
Congress of the United States, almost the sole, the 
last, the greatest depository of human hope and 
human freedom, the representative.? of a gallant 
nation, containing a million of freemen ready to 
fly to arms, while the people of that nation were 
spontaneously expressing its deep-toned feeJing, 
and the whole continent, by one simultaneous 
emotion was rising, and solemnly and anxiously 



supplicating and invoking high Heaven to spare 
and succour Greece, and to invigorate her ;iriiis, 
in her glorious cause; while temples and senate- 
houses were alike resounding with one burst of 
^ generous and holy sympathy ; — In this year of our 
Lord and Saviour, — that Saviour of Greece and of 
us, — a proposition was ollered in the .American 
Congress to send a messenger to Greece, to inquire 
into her state and condition, with a kind cxpresi^ion 

■ of our good wishes and our sympathies — and it 
'was rejected!' Go home, if you can; go home, 
/ if you dare, to your constituents, and tell them 
■, that you voted it down: meet, if you can, the 

■ appalling countenances of those who sent you 
; here, and tell them that you shrank from the decla- 
' ration of your own sentiments — that you cannot 

■ tell how, but that some unknown dread, some 
I indescribable apprehensibn, some indefinable dart- 
I ger, drove you from your purpose — that the spectres 
) of scimitars, and crowns, and crescents gleamed 
I before you, and alarmed you; and that you sup- 
i pressed all the noble feelings prompted by religion, 
j by liberty, by national independence, and by 
\ humanity. I cannot bring myself to believe that 
J such will be the feeling of a majority of this com- 
mittee. But, for myself, though every friend of 
the cause should desert it, and I be left to stand 
alone with the gentleman from Massachusetts, I 

\ will give to this resolution the poor sanction of my 
unqualified api)robation." 

Here spoke the high-souled patriot, the apostle 
of Liberty, the friend of man; and his cheering 
voice rang along the shores of Salamis, through 
the pass of Thermopylffi, over the plains of Mara- 
thon, and reverberated from the walls of the ruined 
Parthenon ; inspired a million of bosoms with 
hope, and nerved a million arms with fresh energy. 
The names of Clat and Webster were pro- 
nounced with grateful accents by the lips of weep- 
j ing beauty, and by the tongues of the brave as 
i their hands struck for freedom. And they are still 
\ held in lively recollection by the freed inhabitants 
of that cradle of liberty, Uterature, science, and 
the arts. 

We come now to an epoch, perhaps the most 
important, thus far, in Mr. Clay's public life. It 
will be remembered that five candidates were in 
the field for the office of President, to succeed Mr. 
Monroe, whose term of service expired on the 
3d day of March, 1825; namely, Mr. Adams, 
Mr. Crawford, Gen. Jackson, Mr. Clay, and Mr. 
Calhoun : though the latter was withdrawn from 
the canvass for the Presidency, and was run by 
his friends as a candidate for Vice President. 

The old federal party having already disbanded 
and dispersed, party organization no longer existed, 
and as all the candidates were prominent Ke- 
publicans, and had been leaders of that party in 
its most trying days, they had to depend solely 
upon personal popularity, and the estimation in 
which the people held their public services, their 
experience, judgment, and capacity to discharge 
the duties of the station to which they as[)ired. 
The canvass was carried on generally without 
bitterness or acrimony, excejif, perhaps, between 
the friends of Mr. Crawford and Mr. Calhoun, 
between whom a personal rivalo' £^d bostihty had 



8 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY.' 



long existed, though they were both, as well as 
Mr. Adams, members of Mr. Monroe's cabinet. 
Some hostility was also apparent between the 
friends of Mr. Crawford and Gen. Jackson ; the 
former not looking upon the General as a sound 
Republican, and pronouncing his election, in ad- 
vance, as "a curse to the countr)'." According to 
the constitution, if one person does not receive a 
majority of the whole electoral votes, and two «r 
more are voted for, the House of Representatives 
is required to elect a President from one of the 
three persons having the highest number of elec- 
toral votes. It was very probable that no one of 
the candidates would receive a majority of the 
electoral votes, and that the election would be 
carried to the House of Representatives, of which 
Mr. Clay was a member; in which case, if not one 
of the three highest returned, the duty would 
devolve on him to give his vote to one or other 
of his rivals. This anticipated contingency oc- 
curred. Occupying a high position, and being 
known to possess great ir^flcence with his friends, 
especially the Kentucky and Ohio delegations, he 
was treated with distinguished consideration by the 
fjfiends of the various candidates, and seemed in 
his own language, addressed to a friend at the 
time, to be "enjoying, whilst alive, the posthumous 
honours usually awarded to the venerated dead." 
But this was only the fattening of the ox for the 
slaughter. Mr. Clay preserved a strict reserve as 
to the vote he should give, which of itself was the 
cause of newspaper conjectures and criticism. 

The election came on, and a most solemn and 
imposing scene, gentlemen present and partaking 
in it, describe it to have been. Mr. Clay and the 
Kentucky and Ohio delegations voted for Mr. 
Adams, who was unexpectedly elected on the first 
ballot. Slander began at once to be busy with his 
name ; those who a short time before courted, now 
vituperated him ; at first only in whispers, but at 
length openly. A member of Congress from Penn- 
sylvania was made the mouth-piece of Mr. Clay's 
vilifiers, who had not the courage to assume the 
responsibility of the vile imputations they induced 
their tool to father, against his wishes and his 
better feelings. 

The charge of "bargain and corruption" was 
uttered from an irresponsible quarter; the cry was 
taken up by the presses in the interest of the 
candidates who had been defeated, and the changes 
were rung upon it with everv- possible variation, 
exas;geration, and expression of holy horror. It 
was in vain to deny the charge : it had been made 
by no responsible person, and no one could there- 
fore be cafled upon to substantiate it. The country 
rang with this cry of "mad dog," until a consider- 
able ]iortic>ii of the .\merican people fully, and 
doubtless honestly, believed it. 

Consciour! of his own innocence, firm in the 
rectitude of his own course, and sustained by a 
clear aiui aii|>roving conscience, Mr. Clay bore the 
opprobrium attcmptrd to be cast upon him, with 
becoming fortitude and dignity, confident that the 
lime would come when truth must again make her 
voice heard, and relying on the people, in whose 
intelligenre and honest intentions he had ahvavs 
great confidence, to do him justice, whenever the 



excitement of the times had died away, the mists 
of prejudice been dispelled, and they should become 
convinced that they had brought in a verdict of 
guilty against one as iimocent as themselves. 

Time has cleared away much of the mist that 
then blinded the eyes of a portion of the people, 
and assuaged the prejudices then excited : they 
can now look back culmly to the subject, and 
weigh the evidence in tlic well-balanced and im- 
partial scales of Justice ; and I beg of them to do 
so, and then to reconsider, and either reverse or 
confirm their verdict, as their deliberate judgment 
shall dictate. 

'i'he first tangible shape in which this charge of 
"bargain and corruption" appeared, was in a letter 
published in Fayetteville, N. C, and dated Nash- 
ville, 8th March, 1&27. It was subseqilently 
ascertained that this was written by Mr. Cauter 
Beveult. In that letter he said, 

"He (Gen. Jackson) told me this morning, 
before all his company, in reply to a question I 
put to him concerning the election of J. Q. Adams 
for the presidency, that Mr. Clay's friends made a 
proposition to his friends, that, if they would pro- 
mise for him, not to put Mr. Adams in the scat 
of Secretary of State, Clay and his friends would, 
in an hour, make him. Jackson, president. He 
most indignantly rejected the proposition, and 
declared he would not compromit himself; and 
unless most openh/ and fairly made the President 
by Congress, he would see the whole earth sink 
under him, before he would bargain or intrigue 
for it." 

Mr. Carter Beverly not being known, many 
were disposed to doubt whether Gen. Jackson had 
ever made such an assertion as the above extract 
contains, and "before all his company." This 
induced Mr. Beverly to address a note to Gen. 
Jackson, who replied. His letter was dated Her- 
mitage, June 5, 1827, and stated that he had been 
"informed by the friends of Mr. Clay, that the 
friends of Mr. Adams had made overtures to them, 
saying, if Mr. Clay and his friends would unite in 
aid of the election of Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay should 
be Secretary of State. That the friends of Mr. 
Adams were urging, as a reason to induce the 
friends of Mr. Clay to accede to their proposition, 
that if I was elected president, Mr. Adams would 
be continued Secretary of State, (innuendo, there 
would be no room for Kentucky.) That the 
friends of Mr. Clay stated, the west did not wish 
to separate from 'he west; and if I would say, or 
permit anv of mv confidential friends to say, that in 
case I was elected president, Mr. .^dams should not 
be continued Secretary of State, by a complete 
union of Mr. Clay and his friends, they would put 
an end to the presidential contest in an hour. And 
he [the member of Congress who called on Gen. 
Jackson] was of opinion it was right to fight such 
inlriauers with their own weapons." 

Here, then, for the first time, was an assertion 
of the fact that there was an attriiipt at least, on 
the part of Mr. Clay or his friends, at " bargain 
and corruption," made by a responsible and known 
person, — such an assertion as Mr. (Tlay could 
notice: and he immediately came out with "a 
direct, unqualified, and indignant denial. He 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



jrtated that he neither made nor authorizcJ, nor MAKE ANY SUCH PROPOSITION; and I 
knew of any proposition whatever to either of the trust I would be as incapable of becoming a nies- 
thrce candidates who\were returned to the House senger upon such an occasion, as it was known 
of Representatives at the last presidential election, Gen. Jackson would be to receive such a message.'' 
or to the friends of either of them, for the i)urpose ' Here, then, is the whole testimony of Gen. 
of influencing the result of the election, or for any Jackson's own witness — the only one called, or 
other purpose. And all allegations, intimations, i)reten<led to exist — to sustain this often repeated 
and innuendos, that his vote on that occasion was ; and heinous charge of "bargain and corruption." 
oiForcd to be given, in consideration of any stipu- ; Let any man of candour point out tlie paragra])h, 
lation or understanding, express or implied, direct the sentence, the word, the syllable, that sustains 
or indirect, written or verbal, that he was, or that ! the charge! Do not every word and every sen- 
any other person was not to be appointed Secretary J tcnce give a plain, explicit, downright denial of the 
of State, or that he was, in any other manner, to | charge, and of every circumstance of it ? Most 
be personally benefited, were devoid of all truth, > clearly, positively, and unequivocally, beyond the 
and destitute of any foumiulion whatever." And ) possibility of a doubt. But will it be believed that 
he demanded the name of the member of Congress I the charge was iterated and reiterated after this 
alluded to by Gen. Jackson in his letter to Carter positive refutation of it ] It was even so. It was 
Beverly. 1 got up to excite the prejudices of the people 

On seeing Mr. Clay's prompt, explicit, and un- | against Mr. Clay, and those who first brought it 
qualitJed denial of this charge, and his demand for ! forward, finding that it answered their purpose so 
the name of the person alluded to. Gen. Jackson I well, had no thought of giving it up or retracting 
issued an address to the public, dated Hermitage, < it. even though they fmnv it to be a falsehood of 
July 18, 1827, in which he said, referring to liis | the basest kind, and had been proved to be so. It 
letter of the 5th of June, to Carter Beverly, \ was the instrument of as foul, as base, as malignant 

" This disclosure was made to me by Mr. James \ a conspiracy, as ever was formed for the destruc- 
Buchanan, a member of Congress from Pennsyl- 1 tion of man. No man, who then had a hand in 
vania, a gentleman of the first respectability and | this nefarious attempt to destroy the fair fame of 



intelligence. 

" The character of Mr. Buchanan, with me, 
forbids the idea that he was acting on his own 



Mr. Clay, can now be found who is willing to 
' acknowledge his agency in it, or that he ever 
; believed there was the least truth in the charge, 



responsibility, or that, under any circumstances, i except Mr. Beverly himself, who has, in a letter 
he could have been induced to propose any ] addressed to Mr. Clay during the past winter, 
arrangement unless possessed of satisfactory assu- 1 candidly acknowledged the wrong he did him, and 
ranees, that, if accepted, it would be carried fully \ made the most ample apology. Others, however, 
into effect. A weak mind would seldom or ever | more guilty, want the magnanimity and grace to 
be thus disposed to act, an intelligent one never." | do Mr. Clay that poor justice, even at this late day. 
From this it appears that it was all a matter of \ The letter of recantation from Mr. Beverly to Mr. 
ir?/ere/jcc with Gen. Jackson. Mr. Buchan.an had i Clay, is dated VinciMA, Middlf.s^x Cottxtt, 
a conversation with him, and he inferred that heiUniiASA, Ff.bhuart 8, 1842. He says, 
called upon him as Mr. Clay's friend and by Mr. | "It will 
Clay's authority ! But what docs Mr. Buchanan i ment to 



himself say — the onh/ witness called upon or 
named by Gen. Jackson, to support his charge — 
what does lie sav 1 — Read 



be no doubt a matter of some astonish- 
you in receiving from me the present 
address. I will not preface it with any kind of 
apology, because, in doing it, I justify my mind ia 
the discharge of an act of conscience and a duty 



Evtract from Mr. Buchanan's letter to the Editor ithat I feel the utmost pleasure in performing, 
of the Lancaster Journal, dated Sth Ausust, 1^27. j "Although the time is quite far gone since I 

" I called upon Gen. Jackson on the occasion \ became very innocently instrumental in circulating 

which I have mentioned, We/y ff^ //;'.s/r/>;?</, upon < throughout the country a very great attack on 

my own individual responsibility, and not as the I your character and virtue as a gentleman, and cer- 

agent of Mr. Clay or any other person. I never ( tainly a very hea^■y one as a public man, I feel 

have been the political friend of Mr. Clay, since ( exceedingly desirous to relieve you, as far as I can, 

he became a candidate for the office of President, \ from the slander ; and my own feelings from the 

as you very well know. Until I saw General ^ severe compunction that is within me, of having 

Jackson's letter to Mr. Beverly of the .5th ult., and '> been, though neither directly nor indirectly your 

at the same time was informed by a letter from the | personal accuser, yet that I was drawn indirectly 

editor of the United States' Telegraph, that I was i into the representation of an attack upon you. 

the person to whom he alluded, the conception \ • • • • • 

never once entered my mind, that he believed me* "This letter is intended to show you that the 

-to have been the agent of Mr. Clay or his friends, : long lapse of time, and the many growing circum- 

or that I intended to propose terms to him of Asr \ stances of the country and government, have long 

kind for them ; or that he could have supposed ! ago convinced me that the very greatest injustice 

me capable of expressing an 'opinion that it was was done you in the charge made. I had, too, an 

right to fight such intriguers with their own opportunatcly lately, of reading over very calmly 

weapons.' ' and dispassionately a file of newspapers containing 

" I had no authority from Mr. Clay or his the whole affair ; and carefully dilated upon it, 

friaids, to propose any terms to Gen. Jackmn Mr. Buchanan, who was represented to be yoxil 

in relation to their votes, NOR DID I EVER accuser, exhibited no proof whatever against yon 

A ' f 



10 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



and he even denied having ever made the charge 
upon you. I have discharged my mind in address- 
ing myself so fully to you, and can only add, if a 
puMicalioii of this letter can render you any essen- 
tial service, (though I do not deserve it,) you have 
full liberty from me to let the public see it. * • 

"I again say that I am most thoroughly con- 
vinced that you were most untruthfully, and, there- 
fore, unjustly treateil ; for I have never seen any 
evidence to substantiate at all the charge. 
• • • • • 

Signed, 

"Cahteii Beveiily." 

It is unnecessary to add any thing further in 
refutation of this foul and unfounded charge of 
" bargain and corruption." The great mass of the 
American jjcople are lovers of justice, and when 
convinced that injustice has been done, have that 
generous spirit and kind feeling which prompt 
them to repair injury. Prejudice will doubtless, 
however, induce some to close their eyes against 
the light of truth, and their hearts against convic- 
tion. Into the minds of such, though truth shone 
with the brightness of the sun at noon-day, its rays 
could not penetrate — all would be darkness. Still, 
however, it may not be useless, and is but just to 
Mr. Clay, to add the testimony — the solemn 
asseveration, of one individual more. If Mr. Clay 
was guilty of the charge alleged, he could not 
have been the only person guilty: if there was a 
"bargain," there must have been another party to 
it, and that party, Mr. Adams, by whom Mr. Clay 
was appointed Secretary of State, which office he 
held during the four years of Mr. Adams's ad- 
ministration. 

A committee appointed by citizens of New 
Jersey, having addressed Mr. Adams on his retire- 
ment from otTice, he transmitted to them a reply, 
from which the following is an extract. 

" Upon him (Mr. Clay) the foulest slanders have 
been showered. Long known and appreciated, as 
successively a member of both houses of your 
national legislature, as the unrivalled speaker, and, 
at liie same time, most cflicient leader of debates 
in one of them ; — as an able and successful negotia- 
tor for your interests in war and in peace with 
foreign powers, and as a powerful candidate for the 
higlipsi of your trusts;— the Department of State 
itself was a station which, by its bestowal, could 
confer neither profit nor honour upon him, but 
upon which he has shed unfading honour, by the 
manner in which he has discharged its duties. 
Prejudice and passion have charged liinj with 
olitaiiiing that otlice by bargain and corruption. 
Brfore 1/ou, my ftlhw citizens, in (he presence 
of tntr counlr)! and iif heaven, I riinvoixcE that 
ciiAitcK TiirALi.T VNKoi-MiKi). Tliis tribute of 
ju>licc is due from me to liirn. and I seize, with 
pleasure, t!ie opportunity atVorded me by your 
letter, of discharging the obligation." 

.\l the late barbacue given to .Mr. Clay by his 
friends aiul iiei;;!iliours at Lexin'jlon, on his retire- 
ineiU from the Senate and return home, alluding 
in his speech to the foul calumny that liad been 
raised and put forth against him, some one in the 
crowd cried out that Mr. Cautkh Hk.vkiii.t, who 
had been the organ of announcitig it, had recently 



borne testimony to its being unfounded. Mr. Clay 
said it was true that he had voluntarily borne such 
testimonv. " But," with great earnestness and 
emphasis. Mr. Clay said, '•! want no testimony: 
here — here — hehe," repeatedly touching his heart, 
amidst tremendous cheers, — "here is the best wit- 
ness of my innocence." The effect was electric, 
and every soul present was touched. 

At the close of Mr. Adams's administration, on 
the 3d of March, 1829, Mr. Clay retired to the' 
shades of his own quiet Ashland, to cultivate his 
farm, and taste once more the sweets of domestic 
and private life. From these, however, he was, in 
1831, drawn by the Legislature of his own state, 
which elected him for the third time to the Senate 
of the United States. With his pubhc course 
since he entered the Senate, where he continued 
nearly eleven years, and w ith the various measures 
originated and advocated by him, the public are 
probably more familiar than with his public acta 
previous. It is the fortune of few men to fdl so 
large a space in the public eye, or to accomplish 
so much for his country's welfare, during a whole 
life, as Mr. Clay has during this period of hia 
senatorial service. The acknowledged leader of 
the party to which he belonged, its chief mea- 
sures have originated with him, and all of them 
had his able co-operation and support. Having 
been, however, the greater portion of the time in a 
minority in the Senate, and the whole of the time 
up to the 4th of March, 1841, in a minority in 
Congress, neither he nor the party to which ho 
belonged could carry any measure through to a 
final law. In the winter of 1832, the TarilT 
question came up and was discussed ; on which 
occasion Mr. Clay delivered a speech in defence 
of the Ameuican System, in which the policy 
of protection was most ably and clearly expounded, 
maintained, and defended. This speech was Mr. 
Clay's crowning effort in defence and support of his 
favourite system of policy, and a more profound, 
comprehensive, lucid, statesmanlike exposition of 
governmental policy was never listened to in any 
legislative body: it was worthy the important 
subject, worthy the great people whom it inte- 
rested, and worthy the vast power of intellect and 
far-reaching sagacity from whence it sprung. 

.\nother subject deeply agitated the public mind 
at this time, and was acted on at the same session 
by Congress: this was the reiharter of the United 
States Bank. Gen. Jackson had brought the sub- 
ject to the view of the national Legislature, and 
thus to the nation itself, in his first annual mes- 
sage in December. 1829; subsequently in 1830, 
and again in 1831. Mr. McLane. the Secretary 
of the Treasury, recommended the recharter of the 
hank, and stated his reasons at large at the com- 
mencement of the session of 1831 — 32. Mr. 
Dallas, then a member of the Senate, brought 
forward the bill to recharter the bank, and it was 
passed by very decided majorities in both Houses 
of Congress: it was, however, vetoed by Gen. 
Jackson, for a variety of reasons assigned by him 
in his memorable veto message. On tliis message 
Mr. Clay addressed the Senate, and commented 
with fieedom. but with disnity and force, upon 
the novel doctrines advanced by the Piciidcnt, and 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



II 



especially upon that which declares every puhlic 
olliccr who takes an oath to support the Constitu- 
tion, is at liberty to sup[)ort it as he umlerstands 
it; and that the President, in this rcsjiect, is indc- 
pendeiit of the Supreme Court, the trihuiial esta- 
blished for the purpose of deciding: upon, and set- 
tling constitutional questions; a doctrine fraught, 
as he declared, with universal nullification, destruc- 
tive of all subordination, authority and fixedness, 
and subversive of government. 

In this speech he looked forward with the 
eye of a sagacious statesman, and spoke the 
words of a prophet. He said, speaking of certain 
contingencies, "Depression in the value of all 
property, sherilT's sales and sacrifices — bankruptcy 
must necessarily ensue; and, with them, relief 
laws, paper-money, a prostration of the courts of 
justice, evils from which we have just emerged, 
must again, with all their train of atflictions, revisit 
our country." Have not these evils followed 
in the train of those measures which began the 
work of destruction by crushing the great balance- 
wheel of the currency! Already we have "de- 
pression in the value of all property, sheriff's sales, 
eacrifices, bankruptcies," and "relief laws!" 

At the same session of Congress Mr. Clay first 
brought forward his great measure of distributing 
the proceeds of the sales of the public lands among 
the States, which has since found so much favour 
with the people of the United States, and become 
a cardinal principle of the Whig party, and one 
of vital importance to the country. Mr. Clay had 
been placed on the committee of manufactures; 
to this committee the subject of the Public Lands 
was referred by the Senate, a majority of whom 
were his political opponents, notwithstanding there 
was a standing committee on the public lands, 
appointed under long established rules! For what 
purpose a subject so incongruous as the public 
lands to those expected to occupy the minds of 
this committee, was referred to it, it is impossible 
to conjecture, unless it was intended thereby to 
embarrass Mr. Clay, and involve him in difficulty 
with one portion of the country, or another. The 
reference of this subject to that committee was the 
more extraordinary, inasmuch as there was not a 
single member from the new States upon it, and 
Dut one, Mr. Clay, from the western States. In 
noticing this novel procedure in his speech, made 
upon the occasion of his bringing forward his bill 
to distribute, for a limited time, the proceeds of the 
public domain, he remarks: — 

" We had earnestly protested against the refer- 
ence, and insisted upon its impropriety; but we 
were overruled by the majority, including a majority 
of Senators Irom tlie new States. I will not attempt 
an expression of the feelings excited in my mind 
on that occasion. Whatever may have been the 
intentions of honourable Senators, I could not be 
insensible to the embarrassment in which the com- 
mittee of manufactures was placed, and especially 
myself. Although anv other member of that com- 
miliec would have rendered himself, with appropri- 
ate researches and proper time, more com[>etent 
than I was to understand the subject of the public 
lands, it was known that, from my local position, 



I alone was supposed to have any partirrular know- 
ledge of them. \\ halevcr emanated from that 
committee was likely, tlifrefore, to be ascribed to 
me. If the committee should propose a measure 
of great liberality towards the new Slates, the 
old States might complain. If the measure should 
seem to lean towarils the old States, the new 
might be dissatisfied. — And, if it inclined to neither 
class of States, but recommended a plan according 
to which there would be distributed impartial justice 
among all the States, it was far from certain that 
any \fould be pleased." 

But the subject being thus thrown upon him 
by those who sought to involve him in difficulty, 
he brought to it all the powers of his under- 
standing, and, after a thorough investigation, 
matured the plan and bill, which he reported to 
the Senate. The attempt made by a majority of 
the Senate, composed of his political enemies, to 
embarrass him, now recoiled upon their own heads. 
But if the reference, in the first instance, of this 
subject to the committee on manufactures was 
unprecedented, the disposition made of Mr. Clay's 
able report from that committee was still more so. 

This was hardly read in the Senate before it was 
violently denounced, and without being considered 
by the Senate, was referred to the Committee on 
Public Lands — the very committee to which Mr. 
Clay had, in the first place, insisted the subject 
ought to be referred. After some days this com- 
mittee made a report, and recommended a reduction 
of the price of the public lands immediately to one 
dollar per acre, and eventually to fifty cents per 
acre, and the grant to the new States of fifteen 
per cent, on the net proceeds of the sales, instead 
of ten per cent., as proposed by the committee of 
manufactures, and vothing to the old Slates. 

At the time Mr. Clay brought forward his pro- 
position to distribute the proceeds of the publis 
lands among all the States, after giving the new 
States ten per cent., various propositions and claims 
in regard to them had been made of a very extra- 
ordinary character, which Mr. Clay took occasion 
to notice. The first was that of Mr. Benton, to 
cede the "refuse lands" to the States in which they 
lay. " Refuse lands," " refuse lands," " refuse 
lands" was his tune. The next was that of the 
Governor of Illinois, who asserted the absolute 
right of that State to all the public lands lying 
within her limits. Then came the proj.osition 
from the Senator of Virginia, (Mr. Tazewell.) to 
cede and surrender to the Stales in which they lay 
all the lands belonging to the United Slates, upon 
certain indefinite conditions. 

He thus exposed the attempts that had been 
made, and were making, to rob the oKl States 
of their interest in the public domain, and he 
came forward wilh a measure that meted out 
justice to all, to the east and to the west ; to the 
north and to the south ; to the old States, and to 
the new. Speaking of the ri{^ht of the whole to 
the public lands, he said : — 

"The right of the Union to the public lands is 
incontestable. It ought not to be considered de- 
batable. It never was questioned but by a few, 
whose monstrous heresy, it was probably supposed. 



12 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



would escipe animadversion from the enormity of 
the absurdity, and the utter impracticability of the 
success of the claim. The right of the whole is 
sealed by the blood of the Revolution, founded 
upon solemn deeds of cession from sovereign 
States, deliberately executed in the face of the 
world, or resting upon national treaties conclu(Jed 
with foreign powers, or ample equivalents con- 
tributed from the treasury of the people of the 
United States." I 



have been required to eschcv the distribution of 
the proceeds of the public lands among the people 
of the States, its rightful owners, as a '•federal 
measure." Is it possible for a nation to have the 
benefit of benign measures, when those which are 
calculated to promote the general good are defeated 
through mere personal pique or prejudice towards 
the individual with whom they originate, and be- 
cause their adoption would add a leaf to the chaplet 
that adorns his browl A wise people will not 



Fortunately for the country, from that time he i inquire who originated a measure, but whether 
has taken a deep and lively interest in thi# great the measure itself is likely to prove beneficial or 
and important subject. The Secretary of the otherwise. And that nation has parted with her 
Treasury, even had, in his annual report to Con- ' own dignity and self-re.«pect, which either adopts 
gress, recommended the ceding of the lands to ' or rejects a course of policy simply because it 
the States in whose limits they lay; and we have j originated with one man, or was opposed by 
seen that others advocated the same measure, another. 

Mr. Clay looked upon this as an unjust disposal : It was undoubtedly the fact that for many years, 
of them, being a fraud upon the old States. Nor j as Mr. Clay asserted, various pretensions had been 
was this all : the propositions thus to dispose of \ put forth concerning the public lands, one of 
the public domain, could not but be considered as which was, that they belonged of right to the 
public bids for the political support of the west States in whose limits they were situated; another, 
and south-west Undoubtedly he might have come that they should be ceded to these States by the 
into the market too, and purchased popularity of ( United States ; another, that their price should 
one portion of the country by surrendering up to ■ be graduated down to almost nothing; and all had 
it the public lands, and of another portion by the in view cither their actual or virtual surrender by 
advocacy of a protective Tariff — a measure with ] the general government. Mr. Clay saw that if 
which he was, and ever has been, peculiarly iden- \ not secured to the old States, their interest in the 
tified. But Mr. Clay never yet inquired what ' public domain would soon be gone forever, and 
measure was popular, but what was riirht — the plan of distribution which he brought forward 
declaring on a memorable occasion, when told was designed, not only to settle our policy in 
that a certain course might injure his popularity — J regard to this immense national interest, but to 
that ho would rather be right than the President ; settle it upon the immutable principles of justice — 
of the United States, high as that station was. ; even-handed justice to all. 

He viewed, and still views, the public lands as an ; But no sooner was there a prospect of his plan 
inheritance of inestimable value, — as an almost ; being adopted, than the very men who had 
exhaustless treasure, and one that ought not to be > clamoured for "the lion's share" of the public 
squandered or given away. \ domain, who had sanctioned scheme after scheme 

His proposition to distribute the proceeds of * for wasting and squandering the lands, "and had 
the public lands was no sooner reported to the : protested against their being considered as a source 
Senate, and made known to the country, than it i of revenue by the government, turned around and 
became triumphant The bill passed the Senate at ( became equally clamorous against the proceeds 
that session, but was not acted on in the House: of the sales being taken from the treasury, and 
it was gaining favour with the country, however, distributed equally and impartially to the people 
and so great was its popularity, that it passed at | of all the States ! Such is the consistency of 
the next session by very large majorities, in both ! mere demagogues! In his speech on the distribu- 
branchcs of Congress. It was then sent to the ) tion of the proceeds of the public lands, delivered 
President, Gen. Jackson, for his signature; but, ' in the Senate, on the 28lh Januan*', li'll, Mr. 
instead of signing it, or returnmg it with his reasons ; Clay thus notices the contradictory and inconsist- 
for withholding his signature, he pocketed it! Had j ent course of his opponents: — 
it been returned, there cannot be a doubt but it! ".\ll at once these gentlemen seem to be deeply 
would have become a law, by the vole of two-thirds j interested in the revenue derivable from the public 
of both Houses; and of this he was fully aware. * lands. Listen to them now, and you wouKl siip- 

" It was a measure susgested by one who shared { pose that heretofore they had always been, and 
no part in the Pi esident's counsels or affections; | hereafter would continue to be, decidedly and 
and although he had himself, in his annual nies-twarmlv in favour of rarel'ully husbanding the 
sa-je, recommended a similar measure, he did not j public domain, and obtaining from it the greatest 
hesitate to change his ground in order to thwart i practicable amount of revenue, for the exclusive 
the views of its author." Personal hostility in- j use of the gi'ueral government. You would 
duced him to resort to the novel mode of killing imagine that none of them had ever espoused or 
the bill by smothering it in his pocket ! Before t sanctioned nnv scheme for wasting or squandering 
an.)t!ier session of ('ongross commenred, the com- j the public lands ; that they regarded them as a 
mand went ftrth — the measure was denounced — ' sacred and inviolable fund, to be preserved for the 
the faithful were recpiired to surrender their own i benefit of posterity, as well as this generation, 
(((unions, and sustain thoir chief, and lo! it was "It is inv intention now to unmask these gentle 
done! — From that day forth to the present, those ' men, anil to show their real system for the ad" 
who claim lO belong to the democratic eheep-fold ■ ministration of the public lands embraces oo 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



13 



object of revenue, cither in the general government! "It was but the other day we heard the Senator 
or the States; that their purpose is otherwise to ' from Arkansas (Mr. Sevier) express some of these 
aispose of them; that tlie fever for revenue is an \ sentiments. What were we told by that Senator] 
intermittent, which appears only when a bill to > ' We will have the pulilic lands. We must have 
distribute the proceeds equally among all the | them, and U'C U'/7/ TAKE //*e/M tn a /eu> ^ear*.' 
States is pending; and that, as soon as that bill [Mr. Sk.vikh said, "So we will."] 
b got rid of, gentlemen relapse into their old i "Hear him! Hear him! He repeats it. Utters 
projects of throwing away the public hinds, and it in the ears of the rcvt nuc-pleading Senator, 
denouncuig all objects of revenue from the public , (Mr. W^right,) on my left. And yet he will vote 
lands as unwise, illiberal, and unjust towards the against distribution." 

new States. I will make all this good by the i It will be seen by the foregoing extracU from 
most incontrovertible testimony. • • • • ( Mr. Clay's speech, and the documents referred to 
" I proceed to the documentary proof. In his \ by him, that it has been for many years the 
annual message of December 4, 1832, President i avowed purpose of those who oppose distribution, 
Jackson says: — i and now insist on the lands being considered as a 

"'As the lands may now be considered as re- \ source of revenue, to cede, or otherwise dispose of 
lieved from this pledge, (that is. the expenses of | them to the States in which they lie; and that 
the Revolutionary war.) the object for which they they have as strenuously maintained that they 
were ceded having been accomplished, it is in the ; ought not to be looked to for revenue. Such 
discretion of Congress to dispose of them in such * glaring contradictions and inconsistency need no 
way as best to conduce to the quiet, harmony, and ; comment : they speak a language which no one 
general interests of the American people, «Scc. ' can misunderstand. 

It seems to me io be our true policy that the \ The reiterated attacks upon the protective sys- 
public lands shall cease, as soon as practicable, > tem by the advocates of the doctrine of free trade, 
to be a source of revenue.'" | together with the fad of the extinguishment of 

From the report of Mr. King, chairman of the \ the public debt and an overflowing treasury, had, 
committee on public lands, to whom his (Mr. Clay's) ; in 1833, greatly operated upon public opinion, and 
report was referred in 1832, Mr. Clay read the fol- - brought about a conviction that protective duties 
lowing : — j were not so necessary as tbey had been considered, 

"This committee turn with confidence from the ; and were, perhaps, as tha South declared them to 
Land Offices to the Custom Houses, and say, here I be, oppressive to them, and unjust in their opera- 
are the true sources of Federal revenue ! Give \ tion. South Carolina had also undertaken to 
lands to the cultivator! and tell him to keep his [nullifi/ the revenue laws of the United States, 
money, and lay it out in their cultivation !" | and threatened open resistance and rebellion, should 

" Now, Mr. President," continued Mr. Clay, \ the general government attempt to enforce them, 
"bear in mind that tliis report, made by the Senator < Discontent had been sown among the people of the 
from Alabama, imbodies the sentiments of his ] South, who had been made to believe that they 
party ; the measure of distribution which came ( were oppressed, and that their wishes and interests 
from the committee on manufactures, exhibited one ; had been disregarded by the national government, 
system for the administration of the public lands, j These discontents had been fomented, and the 
ajid that it was referred to the committee on public ( hopes of the southern people encouraged by the 
lands, to enable that committee to make an argu- course of the Federal Administration, which, at 
nicntative report against it, and to present their the very moment that it threatened and recom- 
systera — a counter-antagonist system. | mended the use of the power of the whole Union, 

" During the whole progress of the bill through ) proclaimed aloud the injustice of the system which 
the Senate, the party dominant then and now • it was about to enforce. In the language of Mr. 
acted in conformity with the doctrines contained Clay, "these discontents were not limited to those 
in the report of their organ. (Mr. King.) Never- : who maintained the extravagant thcorj- of nullifi- 
theless the bill passed both houses of Congress by < cation ; they were not confined to one State ; but 
decisive majorities. \ were coextensive with the entire South, and ex- 

"Hear how President Jackson lays down the ^tended even to the northern States." A majority 
law in 1833: of the party then dominant, since defeated, was 

" ' On the whole, I adhere to the opinion ex- then, as now, opposed to the tarifT policy. Under 
pressed by me in my annual message of 1832, \ all these circumstances Mr. Clay deemed that 
that it is our true policy that the public lands policy in imminent danger: "it is,' said he, "in 
shall cease, as soon as practicable, to be a source ; the hands of the Philistines, who would strangle 
of revenue, except for the payment of those general i it;" and he flew to its succour. The celebrated 
charges which grow out of the acquisition of the Compromise bill was introduced, and after much 
lands, their survey, and sale. I do not doubt ' debate, finally passed. 

that it is tlie real interest of each and all the Mr. Clay, with whom this great measure ot 
States in the Union, and particularly of the new conciliation originated, and to whose moderation. 
States, that the price of these lands shall be re- ' firmness, patriotism, and abilities, its success was 
duced and graduated ; and that after they have ] due, was, on this occasion, hailed by a very large 
been offered for a certain number of years, the ] portion of the country-, north, south, and west, as 
refuse, remaining unsold^ shall be abandoned to : "the great pacificator and saviour of the countrv-; 
the States, and the machinery of our land-system \ By some, however, he was charged with aban 
entirely withdrawn.' • • • • jdoniiig his own system. In reply he said, "It 

c 2 



14 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



was far from the object of those who support 
this hill, to abandon or surrender the policy of 
protecting American industry." • • * <iThe| 
condition of the country has impressed every 



The deed is to be done — that foul deed, like tha 
blood-stained hands of the guilty Macbclii, all 
ocean's waters will never wash out. Proceed, 
then, to the noble work which lies before j'ou, and 



public man with the necessity of some modifica-, like other skilful executioners, do it quickly. And 
tion of the principles of protection, so far as it de- ' when you have perpetrated it, go home to the peo- 
pends upon high duties." • • • • "Sir, ; pie, and tell them what glorious honours you have 
I desire to be perfectly understood as to the ! achieved for our common country. Tell them that 
motives which have prompted me to offer this you have extinguished one of the brightest and 
measure. I repeat, that they are, first, to preserve purest lights that ever burned on the altar of civil 
the manufacturing interest, and, secondly, to quiet; liberty. Tell them that you have silenced one 
the country. I believe the American system to be ; of the noblest batteries that ever thundered in 



in the greatest danger; and I believe it can be 
placed on a better and safer foundation at this 



session, than at the next.' 



• • «' .Mr. Pre- 



defence of the constitution, and bravely spiked 
the cannon. Tell them that, henceforward, no 
matter what daring or outrageous act ajiy prcsi- 



sident, it is not destruction — but preser\'ation of ' dent may perform, you have forever hermetically 
the system at which we aim. If dangers now ; sealed the mouth of the Senate. Tell them that 
a.ssail it, we have not created them. I have sus- he may fearlessly assume what power he pleases, 
tained it upon the dearest convictions of its expedi- \ snatch from its lawful custody the public jnirse, 
ency. They are entirely unaltered." j command a military detachment to enter the halls 

The compromise bill being accepted by the ; of the Capitol, overawe Congress, trample down 
South as "a concession from the stranger to the ' the constitution, and raze everj' bulwark of free- 
weaker party," it proved, as its author designed it dom ; but that the Senate must stand mute, in 
should, a tranquillizing measure, and secured to the j silent submission, and not dare to raise its oppos- 
country, and especially to those engaged in manu- i ing voice. That it must wait until a House of 
facturing, a stability of policy for a number of years, ; Representatives, humbled and subdued like itself, 
far more important to them than heavy duties with ^ and a majority of it composed of the partisans of 
uncertainty and fluctuation. Mr. Clay has been, \ the president, shall prefer articles of impeachment. 
and is, to the present day, much censured for dis- ^ Tell them, finally, that you have restored the glorious 
posing of the tariff question as he did in the com- < doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance ; 
promise bill : but if ever there was a measure that and if the people do not pour out their indigna- 
originated in the most anxious desire to do that tion and imprecations, I have yet to learn the 
which, under all circumstances, was best for the I character of American freemen." 
country, and if a public man ever acted upon pure I The treatment of the Indians generally, and 
and disinterested motives, this was the measure j especially the gross injustice done the Cherokeea, 
and this the man : and no unprejudiced person who ! in driving them from a country guarantied to them 
knows those circumstances, and the imminent ; in perpetuity, by solemn treaties, was another sub- 
danger there then was of losing the protective ': ject that eccupied the attention of Congress and 
system entirely, as well as of plunging the coun- < the country. Mr. Clay became conspicuous for 
try into a civil war, can, it seems to me, for a sin- his advocacy of the rights of this injured people, 
gle moment, doubt the wisdom of that measure. ; who had made great advances in the arts of civi- 

Many questions of the highest importance came , lized life, and were rapidly abandoning their no- 
up and were discussed at great length, with madic habits and becoming an agricultural, a 



unrivalled ability, in the Senate, during General 
.Jackson's second term, and Mr. Van Burcn's ad- 
ministration. Among these were, the removal of 
the deposits from the Bank of the United Suites, 
and 



Christian, and a literary people ; and his eloquence 
enlisted the sympathy, and aroused the indignation 
of the nation. But the decree h.idgone forth — he 
whose iron will was the law of the land, had said 
tho dismissal of Mr. Duane, upon which oc- ' it, and, regardless of treaties, regardless of justice, 
casion Mr. Clay offered a resolution declaring that regardless of the plighted fiith of the nation, they 
the president had exercised a power not warranted were driven from their farms, their houses, and 
by the constitution or laws, but in derogation of the graves of their fathers, into the prairies of the 
both. This excited an acrimonious discussion, in ^ West. 

which the executive power was freely examined. ; Mr. Clay and his friends had. as is well known. 
The resolution was finally adopted by the Senate, opposed what they deemed the ruinous financial 
and was afterwards, when the administration party policy and high-handed measures of General Jack- 
became the majority of the Senate, attacked with son's administration, and had all along predicted 
a violence and acerbity of feeling seldom paralleled the evils that must eventually flow from such mea- 
in legislative proceedings. Mr. Benton moved a sures. For some years, under the operation of 
resolution to expunge the offensive record, which judicious tarifl' laws, the treasury had been over- 
was, after some two or three years, adopted, ! flowing; by stimulants applied to the banks by the 
and the •disgraceful act of defacing the records of »govcrnment, the currency had become inflated; 
the Senate was performed. On this occasion .Mr. business of all kinds partook of the feverish action 
Clav concluded a thrilling speech, with the fol- J of every thing else; speculation abounded every- 
lowmg indignant and burning language: (where; property rose with such rapidity that tho 

"But why should I det-oin the Senate or need- i most visionary dreams of waking men seemed to 
lessly waste my breath in fruitless exertions? The bo but the anticipations of actual realization. Bat 
decree has gone forth. It is one of urgency, too. in this mid career of rash speed of a whole natiot. 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAY. 



15 . 



making haste to be rich, a sudden check was given 
to this velocity. From encour.iging the deposite 
banks to extend their circulation, the government 
adopted a measure calcul;ited to create an extraor- 
dinary demand for specie, and thus force, almost 
instantaneously, an extensive curtailment of the 
currency. The result was a universal suspension 
of specie payments, in May, 1837, and the com- 
mencement of a most deplorable reverse in the con- 
dition of the country. Could it alTord the patriot 
any satisfaction to witness the fulfilment of his own 
predictions of evil, Mr. Clay and his friends have 
enjoyed that satisfaction; but neither have the 
heartlessness to exult in the misfortunes ami embar- 
rassments of their country, though foretold by them 
with prophetic accuracy. None regretted the un- 
happy condition of the country, brought upon it by 
obstinate and reckless men, more deeply and sin- 
cerely than himself: no one more zealously endea- 
voured to avert approaching and foreseen evils. 

This state of the countn,', the causes and the 
remedy, were themes his powerful mind easily 
grasped, and which, during the whole term of Mr. 
Van Buren's administration, gave it constant ex- 
ercise. He strove to awaken the public mind to 
the glaring mismanagement of the attairs of the 
country by those to whose care they had been in- 
trusted ; and he had, at length, the satisfaction to see 
the people open their eyes to their true condition, 
and rise up in their might to apply the constitu- 
tional remedy — a change of rulers, effected by the 
ballot-box. If all has not been accomplished by 
that change which the people had in view, much 
has been, and the causes why more has not, are to 
be found in the lamented death of the late Presi- 
dent Harrison, the great instrument elected to carry 
out the desired reform, and in the weakness, obsti- 
nacy, vanity, overweening and ridiculous ambition 
of the individual unfortunately selected for the 
office of Vice President, his abandonment of the 
principles and opposition to the measures of the 
party whose support he had sought, whose faith 
he had hypocritically professed, and by whom he 
had been trusted. 

Mr. Clay was nominated, and supported by the 
Whig party, in 1832, as a candidate for the pre- 
sidential office, in opposition to General Jackson; 
bat the party then in power commanded a majority 
in almost every state in the Union except Massa- 
chusetts and Kentucky. It wielded all the power 
and patronage of the general government, and 
stinted not the use of any means within its con- 
trol, to secure its ascendency. Add to this the 
fact that a third candidate was also run by a por- 
tion of those opposed to the high-handed measures 
of the administration, (Mn. Whit, by tljc Anti- 
masons,) and it will scarcely sur[)rise any onfe that 
General Jackson was re-elected by a large majo- 
rity. 

.Mr. Clay declined being a candidate in 1836; 
hut his nomination was pressed with honest zeal 
by a large portion of the Whig party, in 1840, and 
confidently exoected at the hands of the Harrisburg 
national convention. In this expectation his friends 
were disappomted. For reasons into which it 
would be out of place here to enter, the nomina- 
bon fell upon another distinguished patriot ; and \ 



to the imperishable honour of Mr. Clay, ho not 
only bowed with respectful submission and acquies- 
cence to the expressed will of the convention, but 
at once bent all his energies to secure the election 
I of his successful rival, exhibiting a magnaiiimily 
1 and patriotic disinterestedness that challenged the 
; admiration even of his opponents, and called forth 
the strongest and most untiring exertions of bis 
devoted friends in aid of tiic good cause of \%bich 
he had ever been looked to as the gallant and in- 
domitable leader.* A cause thus sust^iined could 
not fail of success. The pco[)le came forth in 
: their might; the country was iuovihI to its centre : 
the result could not be doubtful — victory crowned 
'■ the efforts of those who sought reform. How the 
country has been deprived of much of the fruits of 
that great victory, has already been intimated ; the 
causes are too well and too universally known to 
require repetition. 

But though disappointed and betrayed, the 
Whigs of the United States are by no means dis- 
heartened. The treachery and selfishness of one 
has only served to exhibit, in bold relief, and with 
the power of contrast, the generous, self-devoting 
spirit, and steady adherence to the gn"eat principles 
of republican liberty, of another. Instead of sit- 
ting down in despair, they are burnishing up their 
armosr, and girding on their bucklers, for the com- 
ing contest. They have but one leader, to whom 
they are attached as with hooks of steel, for he is 
" the life, the soul, the embodiment of Whig prin- 
ciples," and the beloved, devoted apostle of liberty. 

Mr. Clay withdrew from the Senate of the 
United States, and from public life, on the 31st 
of March last, on which occasion he took leave of 
his compeers and fellow-members of the Senate, 
in a speech full of noble sentiment and touching 
pathos that moistened every eye in the Hail. Ho 
retired to his farm at Ashland, to enjoy the sweets 
of domestic life and rural occupation. In a letter 
to an intimate friend, of course not intended for 
the public eye, dated AsHtANii, 12th August, 1842, 
he says, "I am most agreeably occupied at Ash- 



♦ Tmmpdialply afier the nnminalion of Gpneral TTnr- 
rison, by tlip llarrishiire national cnnvenlion, I saw Mr. 
C'l.iy in Wa^hinptmi, and in Ihfi coiirsp of tlin ronvprsa- 
linn I held wiili liitn, slated that some of liis frionds in 
I'hiladelpliia were extremely dissatisfied willi the nnmi- 
natiiin. He asked if any one had evinced an unwilling, 
ness to support the ticket 1 I replied that a very few 
had. " I reerel any one shniild hesitate a incmient to 
support it," he said, " and earnpsllv hope they will, upon 
reflection, cliange that deti-rrnination. Sir," said he, 
"we are in the midst of a great slrnpele — one upon 
which, perhaps, the fate of the nalii>n depends ; for if 
Mr. Van Biiren is re-elpctpd, I (irmly hplieve wp shall 
have nothing left us but the /urmj of the coiistiiiiilon, 
and how loni; we shall be permitted to enjoy even thpm, 
Oorl only knows. 1 hejr yoii. on your return to Phila- 
delphia, to see the individuals you nientiim, and say to 
them from me, that, were it the last favour 1 had t>i ask 
of them, I bee of them to support the ticket nominatrd 
with the same real and enprpy as Ihey would were I ihe 
candidate. Why, sir, who is Henry Clay, that ihpy 
should hesitate on his account 1 An old man who wijl 
soon have passed from the stage of action and be no 
more ; but our principle.' are eternal and niu<t be sus- 
tained, or our republic will soon share Ihe fate of all 
those that have preceded us, which Ood firbid." 

This was spoken with an pnthusiasni and an eloquence 
that caused my blood to tingle and course with grealei 
rapidity through my veins. I returned in a few days, 
and di.i not oinit to convey his message to the pprsoin 
to whom it w.is sent, who from that mompnt «ntere4 
into the caaipaign with extraordinary earDesinesa. 



16 



LIFE OF HENRY CLAi'. 



land. 1 am practising, in epitome, on my princi- his beloved country with untiring zeal, and confi- 
ples of internal improvement and home industry, dently waiting for the hour when the light of trutk 
I have just completed a canal about a quarter of a should dispel the black clouds of falsehood that 
mile in length. The main object is, with a fall of ] had been heaped upon his name, and his fellow- 
about five feet, to procure vats to water-rot hemp. | citizens should be convinced of the injustice they 
I mean to rig the American navy." | had done him. That broad, powerful light is now 

He is indeed the Cincinnatus of the age. j driving before it the mists and clouds of prejudice, 
After devoting thirty-five years of his life to the | and the name of Hexrt Clay already glistens in 
service of his country, rising to the highest pinna- '. its rays, and stands forth brighter and more glo- 
cle of fame as an orator and a statesman ; in the ' rious than ever. That he is destined to fill the 
midst of a career unrivalled for briliiancj- and use- '■-, highest office which a grateful people can bestow 
fulness, he voluntaril}' retires to the shades of his > upon him, there can scarcely be a doubt ; but this 
own Ashland, there to spend the remainder of his ', reward, so long due and so long delayed, will not 
days, not in inactive solitude, but in carrying out, > confer more honour upon him than upon those 
to use his own language, his " principles of internal :'■ who bestow it. The people of the United States 
improvement and home industry." He delights in \ owe it themselves to perform this act of justice ; 
agriculture, and is one of the most practical, Indus- ^justice to him and justice to the country. While 
trious, methodical, and successful farmers in the ( the waves of adversity beat upon the ship of state, 
whole western country. Nothing gratifies him \ and she labours in the midst of rocks and break- 
more than to meet and enter into familiar convcr- 5 ers, all eyes are turned to " the pilot who can 
sation, with plain, common sense men, and good s weather the storm ;" to him who has emphatically 



husbandmen, from whom he seldom fails to draw \ declared " he had rather be right than be Presi- 
some valuable hints. From him, too, such men ,; dent." He has been nominated as a candidate for 
may go away instructed both by precept and example 'the first ofiice in the gift of a free people, by state 
in their own avocation. Few men have done more | conventions in North Carolina, Maryland, New 
to improve the agriculture of the rich valley of the | York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, 
west, and the breed of cattle, horses, mules, sheep, ] Georgia, Ohio, and some eight or ten other Suites; 
and hogs, in that great section of the country, than \ and in every assemblage his name calls forth the 
HEyHT Clat. In this respect he resembles the be- \ most enthusiastic plaudits, evidencing the confidence 
loved " Father of his country," the great and the \ and grateful attachment of the people to one who 
good Wash rycTOjf, who, while "first in peace, first j has so long and so faithfully served them. Ho, 
in war, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," J and he alone, is able to take the holm of the ship 
was no less first among the farmers of the land. J of state, and put her onco more upon the broad 



There is a purifying influence in the cultivation of 
the soil, that as seldom fails to reach the heart as 
it does to invigorate the frame of man, and he who 
delights to till the ground will find himself not less 
favoured than the fabled Antffius, to whom was 
given new strength and energy as often as he 
touched his mother earth. 



open sea, and before the freshening breeze of pros- 
perity. For that event a million of people ear- 
nestly pray; and the moment that sees the desti- 
nies of our beloved country confided to his care, 
to be guided by his wisdom and experience, will 
witness a million of hearts leap for joy, and the 
United States once more rise to her former envied 



It has been thought that had Mr. Clay entered ! position among nations, 
the military profession, upon the breaking out of | In this brief and imperfect outline of the life of 
hostilities between this country and Great Britain, > Mr. Clay, I have attempted no labouretl panegyric, 
in 1812, he would have been one of the most dis- ;■ for he needs none. His name is inter^voven with 
tinguished generals and warriors of the age. But \ some of the proudest records of American history, 
he preferred the more useful, but to him scarcely \ and stands forth in Doric strength and simplicity 
less brilliant path of a statesman and legislator, i upon many of its brightest pages. When these 
Few can doubt that had his brow been encircled ^ shall be blotted out by the hand of oblivion ; when 
with the laurol wreath, won upon the battle fields the events of the last war with Great Britain shall 
of his country, he would long ago have been ■ have been forgotten, and the noble strngcles to 
elevated to the highest oflicc in tlie gift of the ; break the gaUing bonds of servitude, by the patriots 
people.* < of South America and the heroes of Greece shall 

Since 1821, no public man has been more do- ' no longer be rcmomberod, then will the name of 
famed, vilified, misrepresented, and traduced. The^HKvuT Clat cease to raise n thrill of emotion 
poisoned sliafts of malice and detraction have? in the American bosom, and the recollection of 
been hurled at him, and his hard-earned fame as- ■ his high-souled and solf-sacrificing patriotism, 
saiuul with the bitterest calumnies ; but he has still '; his eminent ser\icos and constant devotion to 
kept his onward way in the path of duty, serving ' his country, his m;inly and fervid eloquence, 

J excite no throb of pride in the hearts of his 
countrymen. But 
stand emblazoned 



• T)r.tlng tlic war, It was at one time contemplated by 
Mr. Miiilison to .ippoint Mr. Clay conunander-in-cliiiirof 
the American army, and tlie projocl was spoken of in 
tlie raliinct ; bin Mr. Madison's ri.-liiclancc to Mr. Clay's 
leaving Cnnpress, (where he was then exercisinR his liiRh 
tnlenis and patriotism for tlie good of the country,) co- 
iticidcd with Mr. Clay's own wishes to rcmalii at hli 
oost and another was 'bercfore selected. 



till then, that name shall 
n letters of gold upon the 
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inspiring signal to millions of freemen who rally 
under it to sustain "orn cocstrt,. ocr rwiox, 

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